Skills for high quality online education

SKILLS FOR HIGH QUALITY ONLINE EDUCATION

PROJECT SUMMARY

Due to the COVID crisis, the educational system around the world has been upset. The restrictions imposed have led to a paradigm shift in education. Suddenly, teachers and students were put in a position to change their habits and how to relate in a way that they were not prepared for. Although students and teachers are digitally literate, their skills and competencies for online teaching are lacking.

Statistics revealed that in all countries, a high percent of students were enabled to achieve knowledge at a satisfactory level or the specific competences as set in the curriculum . This was due to the lack of the necessary skills of both teachers and their own to conduct online school activities.

About our project

PARTNERS IN PROJECT

OBJECTIVES OF THE PROJECT

What do you want to achieve by implementing the project?

The aim of this project is to provide teachers and students with the necessary support to overcome the difficulties related to online schooling. At the end of it, students and teachers will be able to conduct a good quality educational process in distance learning. Main objective is to help teachers and students acquire skills to carry out educational acts that can prevent learning loss and improve students’ school results even in the conditions of online schooling.

Goals

Students and teachers will acquire the necessary skills for online teaching/learning;
Raise awareness of teachers and students of online schooling and the need to have an appropriate strategy, so that student knowledge is not affected;
Improve academic results as a result of increased quality of online educational activities.

The ultimate goal of any teaching/learning activity is to ensure for students, the acquisition of knowledge and the development of skills and competencies.

To achieve this result, several specific objectives must be met:

students to be trained to develop the most appropriate digital skills for online educational activities;
teachers to be trained to develop digital skills for online teaching; teachers to be helped to open up to modern teaching methods, using digital tools; students to accumulate a set of digital skills necessary for learning, and to help them in crisis situations digital tools to be easily used both online and onsite;
teachers and students to be able to carry out high quality online educational activities.

By achieving these objectives, the desired results can be obtained:

students acquire the competencies provided in the curriculum; their school results improve;
the quality of learning increases educational activities become more attractive;
students become more involved in learning activities students’ motivation for learning increases.

Activities we are going to implement

The planned activities are meant to ensure the achievement of the objectives and to increase the quality of online teaching/learning. We will conduct research on online teaching at EU level, to identify good practices, to identify what worked and what didn’t in the process. Teachers will collect 10 example of good practices each, and will present the examples in the first LTT, in which the best 30 will be selected. The results will be included in a booklet for teachers that will include the 30 examples of good practice, selected. Teachers will thus have a benchmark on the path to follow in online teaching;

We will develop a training program based on process facilitation, designed for teachers, through which they acquire the digital skills and competencies needed to provide quality educational activities.The reports and analyzes performed on the problems of online education will be the starting point for establishing the content of the course. The content will be optimized based on the suggestions and recommendations received from the experts in the focus group that will evaluate the course;

A training toolkit will be created, applicable by all the stakeholders, and distributed as an OER. A guide for teachers on how to involve parents in online school activities will be also developed. We will organize an LTT activity, during which teachers from partner countries will be trained. They will then pilot the program in their countries. The feedback obtained from the pilot will be used to improve the program ;

We will teach the students how to create digital portfolios to have at hand the digital resources they will use in the learning process. An evaluation workshop will be held during students exchange. Students will acquire the skills and competencies needed for online learning activities. Peer learning activities will take place, after the students will return home. A guide for students will be developed, with instructions on how to create a digital portfolio and use it for online learning;

The planned activities will have an eco-friendly character, in order to develop attitudes and behaviors to protect the environment: green travels will be prefered, as few printed documents as possible, CSR practices will be implemented. The aim of the eTwinning project that will take place is to develop the digital skills of the students involved, but also to integrate environmental issues into classroom activities. We also want to give the project an inclusive character, considering that in the boarding schools are integrated children with special needs, and students belonging to disadvantaged categories. They will be included in activities, and the products made in the project will reach these categories of students, too.

TARGET GROUPS

In the project we included two target groups

Teachers

who need to improve their digital skills in order to deliver quality online education

Students

who need new digital skills and competencies in order to successfully complete online learning.

Teachers and students will acquire:

Digital skills for effective online teaching / learning activities;
Competences to use web tools for different types of teaching/learning activities;
Skills to use ICT in data collection and processing;
Innovation capacity in conducting online activities;
Learning to learn skills;
Abilities to facilitate the online learning process;
Exchange of good practices. Number and profile of participants: 8 partners from 7 countries are involved in this project. The choice was made taking into account the needs resulting from the planned activities, and the expertise of each partner in a certain field, necessary for the successful implementation of the project.Thus, we selected partners who have expertise in conducting research, in developing training programs for digital skills, who have the capacity to organize large-scale actions for the dissemination of results. 24 teachers will present good practices on online teaching

PROJECT RESULTS

We expect the following results during the project and upon its completion

1

Developing teachers’ digital skills for online teaching At the end of the project, the teachers in the target group will be better prepared to carry out online teaching activities, with a set of new digital skills. By applying examples of good practice, they will give all their students an extra chance at a quality education.

3

Diminishing the negative impact of online schooling on students’ school progress Due to the pandemic, students suffered from learning loss, which led to poorer results for most of them. By acquiring the necessary digital skills, they will become able to overcome difficulties and lessen the negative impact previously felt. Through a good organization of online learning activities, the remises will be created to ensure proper school progress.

5

The teacher training program can also be used by other schools in the community The Training Toolkit developed can be used by any training provider, as it can be downloaded from the project website. It will contain all the necessary components for running the training program, and additionally, a guide for teachers on how parents can be involved in providing the necessary support to students during online schooling.

7

The training program can be implemented by any stakeholder The training program will also be available in electronic format, so that it can be implemented in any community of teachers. It can also be taken over by training providers and included in their offer.

2

Developing students’ digital skills for online learning Students will benefit by improving their ability to manage and organize online learning activities. Even students with special needs will increase their self-confidence through the skills they will acquire. Online schooling will become a friendlier environment, and less stressful.

4

The good practice booklet can be taken as a benchmark for establishing the online teaching strategy At this time, there is no good practice guide on online schooling that supports teachers. In the absence of such a tool, everyone did according to his skill, more or less well. This booklet has a very high transferability potential because it can be easily shared in digital format to teachers even from the most remote areas, who do not have access to training on this topic.

6

The training kit with tools and suggestions for online teaching becomes a useful aid for any teacher The content of the materials made in the kit can become a source of inspiration for any teacher, because you will find suggestions for using web tools, recommendations on how students can be prepared to manage their online activities, and how to collaborate with parents on duration of online school.

8

The student guide&portfolio becomes a handy tool for every student, helping them to manage the online learning activities And this guide has the character of uniqueness, because so far no such tool has been developed. It will be accessible to all interested students, and can be downloaded from the project website. It will be presented in a suggestive visual way, to be easy to navigate.

Practical Guide for Online Education

In this booklet, we will identify examples of good and badpractices at the EU level for online schooling to find outwhat was good and what didn't work and offer support toteachers and students, improving the practice of onlineteaching/learning.
This manual can be applied to many educators/learners,but it is most relevant to teachers of children aged 9 to 15years old.

Teacher training program for the development of digital skills for online teaching

The ultimate objective is to assist teachers and pupils in online teaching/learning activities that minimize learning loss and boost student performance. This will be achieved by making available tools and training for teachers and students on how to execute internet-based instruction/learning programs properly.

In this booklet, we showcase seven unique modules addressing the different needs of the target groups. This training can be applied to many educators/learners, but it is most relevant to teachers of children aged 9 to 15 years old.

Training Toolkit

Spanning seven distinct modules, this toolkit provides educators withthe tools, strategies, and insights needed to harness digital platforms' power effectively. From understanding the nuances of digital education to fostering student motivation through digital portfolios, each module is meticulously crafted to cater to the diverse needs of modern educators.
While this training toolkit holds value for a wide range ofeducators, it is particularly tailored for teachers catering to 9 to 15-year-old students. Dive in and embark on atransformative journey towards excellence in online education.

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Manual - How to motivate students?

Guidebook for teachers

Guidebook on involving parents in online school life

Guidebook for students

Online student portfolios allow students to easily showcase their work acrossdifferent subjects and reflect on their past work. They benefit students andtheir families, as well as educators. A digital portfolio is a valuable tool thatimproves the learning process and enhances students engagement and caterto remote learning.